Visor cap



Feb. 24, 1959 c. BANNISTER ETAL 2,874,387

-v'IsoR CAP Filed May 20. 1957 INVENTORS @WD ORNE g United .StatesPatent'VISRlCAP \.onstance BannistenandrMariog-Petitta,New York, n. Y.ApplicsaoniMay zo, laensernl Naseem 2 Claims. (CL 2l9f.)`

This invention relates broadly tto: the head covering arts .and in -itsmorecspeeiiie :aspects it relates to :hats r.or caps fvvhich are:provided .vvitha :visorcor other generally lateral :projection from the-head bander bodwhereof and means preventing .the Vpressure of thewindYer resis- -tanee of the air from causing :the `cap or that .from :beingIblow-n from the head Vofthewea-rer;fand fthe mature rand objects of.the invention `will 'be readily recognized and understood by thoseskilled ,in the `,arts to which itrelates in the light of thefollowingexplanationand detailed ,de .scription of the `accompanyingdrawings illustrating -what `we at present believe `to be Apreferredembodiments lor mechanical expressions .of our invention from.;amongvarious other forms, arrangements, ,combinations `and `constructions,ofI,which .the invention iscapable-withinthe .spiritand scope thereof.

While we have illustrated and shall describeour in vention as applied tothe sun or glare visor of a cap it is to be distinctly understood thatitmay be .applied t the brim or -any other projection from the body of ahat or head coveringpr to aconventionaheye shade and still fall withinthe spirit and scope of our invention.

It is Iwell .known -that .many types lof Ycaps having .sun

o`r=glare preventing visors -projectingftherefrom are awkward .andinconvenient to .wearwhen ithe Kwind iis lblowing or the `wearer isYriding pin `a .vehicle orfthe like so :there is substantial resistanceto the movement byl'rthe air. The awkwardness or `inconvenience .causedqby 'wind pressure or :air resistancebeing generated beneath the `visorwith :sufficient .intensity to produce upward .movement .on the visor.tocause the capito :be lifted from' the head .of the wearer. When.the...intensity of the -wnd Vor resistance of the air is of a forcesufiicient to remove the cap the wearer must either 'holdit :on hishead, or if possible to :pull it so tightlyihat -`it causes discomfortor take it off and hold it. 'Every wearer of caps and others willreadily appreciate that the cap fails to serve a useful purpose if it isaffected by wind and air resistance. As far as we are aware no one priorto now has attacked and solved this problem as we have by providingmeans incorporated in the visor for automatically releasing windpressure and air resistance beneath a visor or the like projection froma head covering to thereby prevent such pressures and resistances fromblowing the cap from the head of the user. A

The primary function of a visor on a cap is to keep the sun and glarefrom the eyes of the wearer. Hence in evolving our visor it has beennecessary to incorporate the pressure and release means therewith insuch a manner that the visor will continue to serve its prime function,i. e., the elimination of sun and glare from the eyes of the wearer. Wehave been able to provide viso-r mounted pressure and resistance releasemeans without sacrificing the necessary glare and sunlight preventionattributes of the visor.

The provision of pressure and resistance release means on a visor -asdevised by us has not detracted from the 2,874,387 Patented Feb. 24,195.9

-2 appearance ofethe hat, .cap.or the like norhas itwcakencd fthevisorin any manner'whatsoever.

With the .increased :use of visor caps for .wear :by players of-amultitudefof sports 'and tby'millions of others whose work or recreationis ,out of doors .or in rather areas .affected .by wind :pressuresand/or .air resistance 'it will be recognized that there has long :beena v:need for some :practical and efficient means vfor preventingpressures and 4resistances from building up 'beneath Ythevisor -ofacaporthe .projectionof a `hat-or Yunder-an veye shade or fthe likeewithsnflicient -forceeto blow the cap, Vhat or fthe like from the head :ofthe vfwearer.

By the invention about-to be ldescribed we :have satisfedthis Along feltneed :by .devising la visor providing ingenious pressure and release`means `which `'does A-noli ICC detract from `the appearance :of the hato r cap-,and does not :adversely affect, the glare preventingcharacteristics ofthe conventional visor.

We have accomplished `this highlyadvantageous result without sacricing-eco-nomy of production or Vthe lasting qualities of a `conventionalvisor.

With the foregoing fgeneral objects, features and results in View, aswell as certain others which will .be apparent from the-followingexplanation, the invention yconsists in certain novel features indesign, construction, mounting and combination of elements, as .will bemore fully and particularly .referred to and specified .hereinyafter.

Referring to kthe accompanying drawings; Y

Fig. 1 is a top vplan view Vof .a visor `cap provided with our pressureVand lresistance Vrelease means.

Fig. .2 is Aa side elevational view v,of the visor ,cap .of .Fig..;1. v4

Fig. 3 `isa fragmentary view ,of the ends of a `pair of slats or panels:forming v:a part .of our upressure Yand resistancevreleasemeans. 1 Y

Fig. 4 is -a fragmentary view`in ,.persp ective `of a `modied form ofslot orpanel and mounting `means ltherefor.

Fig. 5 is Va `view in perspective `ofthe visor cap `of a furthermodified form.

In the accompanying drawings, we .have used the numeral 1 to :designatethe .crown or :body Aof ,a ca p or the like head covering. This crownwhile illustrated ,as being made of light, exible `fabric material may,of course, be made .ofany appropriate material and may if desired be ofhelmettype, .that -is it may behard, and rigid. The cap `may include theusual head .band 3 which may be of any suitable and desirable type. 'Wehave used the numeral 5 to designate v,generally .the Yvisor which ,isattached tothe lfrontportion of the body of `the cap to projectforwardly therefrom to protect the eyes of the wearer from sun andglare.

The visor 5 is preferably formed of relatively rigid material which islight in weight such as plastic, light Weight metal as aluminum or anyother material having thenecessary characteristics and capable ofperforming the functions for which the visor has been designed. Thevisor may constitute a solid body which is formed to provide thepressure and resistance release means as will be explained and is ofvisor or elongated shape the outer perimeter of which is arcuate whilethe inner perimeter extends into the body of the visor, is arcuate andconforms generally to the curvature of the outer perimeter. The outerperimeter of the visor comprises what we shall term an outer rimproviding oppositely disposed sections 7 and a forward section 9. Theinner perimeter of the visor comprises what we shall term an inner rim11, the outer and inner rims being joined at their rear ends as at 13.

The visor is formed by stamping, extrusion or in any other suitablemanner to provide a plurality of transversely extended slats or panels15 which extend between the sections 7 of the outer rim. While we havedisclosed' the slats 15 as being an integral part of the visor andintegral with the outer rim sections it is to be recognized that theymay comprise separate elements which are fixed to and extend between theouter rim sections. Each slat 15 is provided with a supporting portion17at its rear end which extends between the sections 7 of the rim and isintegrally formed therewith or may be connected thereto in any suitablemanner. Extending forwardly and downwardly from said supporting portion17 of each slat or panel is a vane 19 providing a reaction surface aswill be hereinafter explained in detail. As will be apparent fromconsideration of the drawings each vane 19 extends below the visor andis of course angularly related to the plane thereof and is not inabutment with or connected to the rim sections 7. Thus a series oftransverse slots are formed in the visor, each such slot extendingbetween each vane and the next forwardly adjacent supporting section 17.

Adjacent the rear end of the visor where the inner rim 11 extendsbetween sections 7 of the outer rim we may provide reduced length slats21 which extend between rirn 11 and the adjacent section 7, each of suchslats also being formed with the supporting section 23 and thedownwardly and forwardly depending vane 25.

The visor is adapted to be fixed to a cap body 1 in the followingmanner. At its inner edge the inner rim 11 is formed with an upstandingflange 27 having a series of spaced holes 29 therealong. The visor maybe fixed to the cap by stitching passing through the holes 29 in theflange and a band 31 may be provided to cover the fiange and to moresecurely fix the visor to the cap. The band may be sewed to the cap andthis stitching may also pass through the apertures in the ange.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings we have illustrated a further method by whichthe visor of this invention may be attached to a cap and in thisinstance the visor is removably attached to the cap. The visor is formedas in the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawingswith the flange 27 having the apertures 29 therethrough. To this ange wesew or otherwise attach a band 33 provided with any suitable number ofsnap fastener elements 35 adapted to be removably fastened tocomplementary fastener elements which are fixed to the cap 1. Thus eachvisor includes the band 33 axed to the ange so that a visor may at willbe attached to and detached from a cap.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings we have illustrated a further forrn of ourinvention. In this form of invention we have provided a plurality ofslats 37 which extend between the rim sections and are pivotally mountedtherein. Each slat 37 is provided with a pivot pin 39 projecting fromeach transverse edge thereof and the rim sections are provided withholes 41 in which the pins 39 are journalled with sucient friction toprevent the slats from flapping therein. Thus when wind pressures on airresistance builds up the wearer need only pivot the flaps 37 downwardlyto provide-the slots in the visor to form release vents for thepressures and resistances beneath the visor.

It will now be readily apparent that the vanes of the slots formreaction surfaces against which wind pressure and air resistance willact as the air flows upwardly through the slots or vents in the visor tothereby release pressure and resistance and in acting on these vaneswill generate a downward reaction on the vanes, the visor and hence thecap to thereby aid in preventing its blowing from the head of thewearer. Hence, the vanes function in a dual capacity, both as a releasemeans for pressure and resistance and as a reaction means for holdingthe head covering on the head of the wearer.

We claim:

l1. A cap visor comprising a rim providing oppositely disposed sections,a plurality of slats extending across said visor and between said rimsections and each slat includingra supporting section xed to andextending between said rim sections, a vane fixed to and extendingdownwardly and forwardly from the forward edge of each supportingsection providing a slot through the visor above each vane, said vanesproviding reaction surfaces to direct air through the slots relievingpressure beneath the visor and providing a downward force on the visor.

2. A cap visor comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced slatsextending transversely across the visor providing a plurality oflongitudinally spaced transverse slots through the visor, a rigid vanefixed to each slat and extending downwardly and forwardly therefromunder a slot and said vanes forming reaction surfaces to direct airthrough the slots to generate a downward force on the visor.

References Cited in the file of thisv patent UNITED STATES PATENTS351,466 Robbins oct. 26, 1886 592,298 Lattimore Oct. 26, 1897 1,009,281Cleary Nov. 21, 1911 1,062,668 Swanson May 27, 1913 1,175,167Moscherrosch Mar. 14, 1916 1,486,102 Merton Mar. 4, 1924 1,522,989Werner Jan. 13, 1925 1,774,074 Wittcoff Aug. 26, 1930 2,114,658Noffsinger Apr. 19, 1938 2,416,062 Mercer Feb. 18, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS508,388 Great Britain .lune 30, 1939

